Less Pay?

I do believe the saying that money isn't everything but would you ever switch districts for less pay? I certainly took less pay to get out of the hospital. I am interviewing for a new position in my home district on Monday and my daughter's kindergarten teacher is the union rep. She sent me the pay scale. Not good, guys. I'd be taking a $5000-6000 pay cut and paying slightly more ($30 a month) for health insurance. I'd get a 50% discount on childcare costs though and would be in the same district as my kids. My kids do go to the after school program 5 days a week and on some holiday breaks because our vacations don't currently line up. I'd be one of only 3 school nurses and would be doing almost exclusively the case management. The school health offices are all staffed and run by LPNs and they do the first aid and med passing. Right now I'm one of 7 nurses and only a couple of our health offices are staffed by LPNs so I do have more contact with the kids. I'm not opposed to doing more case management stuff. That's initally why I was interested in the school nurse role. I'd love to get some insight from people who've changed districts and why you chose to do it. TIA

Sounds like you have some calculations to figure out. For me, being in the same district would be huge- all the same days off, snow days, etc. I work in a different district than my kids and we had a full day of school and my kids had a delayed start. It was a royal pain for me to figure out how to get them to school. Not having much of a commute would be nice too. And having your kids be able to go home after school with you and not always go to the after school program would be nice. Like I said, lots to think about.

May 3, '17

They probably would still have to go to the after school program. We have 8 hour duty days just like the teachers and I wouldn't be in the same building as my kids BUT I'd only be paying $6 a day for that after school program. If I take the discount on child care and not having to use as much child care for non school days it's only a cut of about $2500. And I do work part time at a hospital so I could easily make up the difference with my PRN work. My husband sounds like he's on board but he jokes with me that as I move up in my career my paycheck is going backwards. LOL

I feel quite the same way...I can only sigh and remind myself of all the benefits I have gained with this job for the money I have lost. I turned down more offers for administrative positions than I care to think about, and I could be doing so well now...except my kids would practically be strangers, and I would have to use before and after care, and I would be spending so much money to pay other people to watch my beautiful offspring, and I would not have summers off...the list goes on. The only benefit I can name for those other positions at other places is the pay.

Only you know what's best for you and your family, but I can say it is pretty sweet to have my kids in my school/district.

May 3, '17

That is rough.
Are you happy and supported where you are? Do you wish you had more time for case management things?

I would miss the hands on time with the little ones if I was just doing case management things. But you really can't put a price on more time with your family

May 3, '17

Totally depends on your state financially. The closer commute, the ability to match schedules with your daughter may be worth more than the equivalent of $4.50/ hour. I took a $20/hr pay cut and it was so worth it. Really only you can decide what is more necessary at this time of your life.

May 4, '17

I took my first school nurse position 12 years ago with a 20k cut. I was so ready to leave the hospital. Money isn't everything, but some peace of mine is pure gold.

May 4, '17

I took a huge pay cut to be a SN. I shouldn't have.

May 4, '17

I too took a huge pay cut to be a SN, but I am HAPPY now, I was miserable before and stressed out in the hospital!!

This situation is the exact one that is happening to me right now: the district we live in (small town) is hiring a nurse (one is retiring, and there are only 4), and they asked me if I wanted to work there (I used to sub there 5 years ago, and my neighbor is one of the nurses). While I would love to be in the same town as my kids, I am only 10 minutes away in a much bigger city, with a huge school district (60 nurses) and more pay. So for me, no, it wouldn't be worth it. I like my school and the city and district I work in. Yes it can be a pain that sometimes our schedules do not line up for days off, but it all works out ok!
Bottom line: do what works best for you and your family! Look at the the pros and cons....

May 4, '17

I've never been in the same school district as my kids and although I'd have liked the conveniences of the same schedule and being closer to them, I'm glad I wasn't.

First of all, consider where you'd be happiest if they were already out of grade school because those years fly by.

Secondly, think about the fact that your kids friend's parents may put you in awkward positions. For example, right after I chose NOT to take the school nurse job at my son's school, his friend's mom called me (knowing I was a school nurse) and said my child was home sick with a fever all day but tomorrow is the football game and if he doesn't go to school then he can't play the game and doesn't want to miss it and says he's feeling fine now and not running a fever (but of course he had motrin) so should he stay home or go. I said he shouldn't go to school. She said I'll just call his school nurse and see (and that was around 9:30pm at night but everyone knows everyone in our little community and would think nothing of calling a nurse that late.) Of course she said keep him home. Then he did miss school but ended up going to the game because none of the coaches knew he'd been absent that day. I know darn well if I'd been the school nurse there I'd have been pressured to give permission to send him to school. Then even if I'd said no I would've seen him at the game since my son was in football and if I'd forced him to not play I'd have been the bad guy.

Also, my kids had a couple teachers who were just terrible and I had to have meetings with them, the principal, and even the superintendent once so I sure didn't want to have to work with these same teachers on a daily basis.

Working in a school with lots of teachers who have kids that go here I can see all the awkward positions even they get into. Their kids want to be friends (or play on teams) with certain family's that are hard to get along with, they don't like, etc. and then they are teaching these kids whose parents sometimes expect favortism, etc. Of course, this isn't always the case and in some big cities you might not have this as much but in my small town we do. Just something to consider!

May 4, '17

Blue_Moon, you bring up some very good points for me to consider. The ones about being in awkward positions with my daughters' friends and their families in particular. I was very happy to be in a different district knowing that I would be privy to all kinds of "dirty laundry" for the students I deal with every day and how awkward would that be if it involved moms that I personally know and hang out with!

Blue_Moon, you bring up some very good points for me to consider. The ones about being in awkward positions with my daughters' friends and their families in particular. I was very happy to be in a different district knowing that I would be privy to all kinds of "dirty laundry" for the students I deal with every day and how awkward would that be if it involved moms that I personally know and hang out with!

On the flip side of Blue Moon...all 5 of my kids have attended elementary school at my campus and have attended/are attending other campuses in my district. We have one Intermediate, one JH, and one HS in a town with almost 16,000 people. The same town and High School I graduated from about the time when Lincoln was president. I know a "few" people and a "few" people know me. Sweet Petunia will not go to the grocery store with me because she feels invisible from the number of people saying "HI, how are you?' or the endless, "hey mom, that's my nurse!" I've been privy to a lot of stuff over the years and have honored confidentiality. But, being in my position, I have used it to do good and can say I've helped a lot of parents and kids through "situations" over the years. Additionally, it is very helpful to have "eyes" on other campuses report back to me about my children. All and all, I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I know school nursing would not be the same for me if I worked in a district where my kids did not attend.

On the flip side of Blue Moon...all 5 of my kids have attended elementary school at my campus and have attended/are attending other campuses in my district. We have one Intermediate, one JH, and one HS in a town with almost 16,000 people. The same town and High School I graduated from about the time when Lincoln was president. I know a "few" people and a "few" people know me. Sweet Petunia will not go to the grocery store with me because she feels invisible from the number of people saying "HI, how are you?' or the endless, "hey mom, that's my nurse!" I've been privy to a lot of stuff over the years and have honored confidentiality. But, being in my position, I have used it to do good and can say I've helped a lot of parents and kids through "situations" over the years. Additionally, it is very helpful to have "eyes" on other campuses report back to me about my children. All and all, I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I know school nursing would not be the same for me if I worked in a district where my kids did not attend.

Just sayin...

Hey OD! I've been hoping you'd chime in! You give great advice! I've also considered how I would feel even more invested in my community if the school district was both my employer AND the district my kids attended. I do often feel like an outsider right now because this isn't my community. Lots to consider definitely.